{"id":2571,"date":"2016-12-27T20:04:55","date_gmt":"2016-12-27T20:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/?p=2571"},"modified":"2016-12-28T01:06:10","modified_gmt":"2016-12-28T01:06:10","slug":"gift-this-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2016\/12\/27\/gift-this-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Gift This Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2016\/12\/C.-Kaminsky.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[2571]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2572\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2016\/12\/C.-Kaminsky-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"c-kaminsky\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2016\/12\/C.-Kaminsky-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2016\/12\/C.-Kaminsky-768x1024.jpg 768w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2016\/12\/C.-Kaminsky.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>Rev. Cathy Kaminski is the lead pastor of Trinity Community Church in Cincinnati, OH. She hopes this article will be a gift to you this Christmas.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Here is a gift you can give to your sisters this Christmas: understanding.\u00a0 We all have demons of self doubt.\u00a0 At times they can paralyze us, make us give up, change course or lose focus.\u00a0 Realities that plague our psyche.\u00a0 Male or female, we can all fall victim to the crushing weight of our mistakes, shortcomings or doubt.\u00a0 But here is what we all need to understand: these forces that threaten to deter us can be destroyed by the love, encouragement and support of the people around us.\u00a0 The crushing place is the one in isolation, but the love of our community can pull each of us out of the spiral of doubt.<\/p>\n<p>But we have to start from a place of understanding.\u00a0 What are the lies we tell ourselves and how can we be equipped to fight them?\u00a0 And while we each have to do the hard work of combating our own demons, this is not what I am here to expose.\u00a0 I want to discuss how we can help destroy the lies for ONE ANOTHER.\u00a0 Let us grow in our understanding of the forces we fight each day and let us COLLECTIVELY break them down.<\/p>\n<p>For your sisters these forces are many, but together we can tear them down.\u00a0 And this work is the gift we can give in abundance this Christmas season!\u00a0 What common understanding do we need to help our sisters, daughters, partners &amp; friends?\u00a0 Here is a profound truth: although there are many who support the voice of women, (and I\u2019m hoping if you are reading this, you are one of them), not all people do.\u00a0 Therefore many women\u2019s default stance is trepidation.<\/p>\n<p>In my own experience, I am often cautious and hesitant when entering ministry settings because I don\u2019t know if my very presence will be an issue for people.\u00a0 I\u2019ve learned to take up less space, not be a burden, and take the opportunities given to me, but not be too pushy.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve gotten older and trusted God\u2019s call on my life more and more I realize how much nonsense is in this approach.\u00a0 Why should I be smaller when God has gifted me to have a voice and bless the church?\u00a0 Why should I be less?\u00a0 Am I really a threat?\u00a0 And if so, what exactly does my presence and gifts threaten?\u00a0 I don\u2019t have to be everyone\u2019s pastor, but I also don\u2019t need to deny my pastoral calling and hold back my gifts if there are those around me who do not support me.<\/p>\n<p>This is the lesson I\u2019ve learned and keep learning.\u00a0 It\u2019s a struggle that is real and has ups and downs.\u00a0 Here is the way each and everyone of us can contribute to transforming this muted expression of call: if you have a female friend, colleague or family member in ministry be a vocal, active support.\u00a0 Let her know you are a safe person who supports her full expression of call.\u00a0 Make it so that in your presence she doesn\u2019t have to hold back or be less.\u00a0 Create space for the full and beautiful manifestation of the gifts of the women around you.\u00a0 If you already do this: thank you!\u00a0 Now do it more!<\/p>\n<p>It is such a sad truth that for so many women the default is \u201cless.\u201d\u00a0 And it\u2019s a missed opportunity for the Church.\u00a0 If we understand this reality then we can start to break it down.\u00a0 And it starts with you and me.\u00a0 It starts with conversations.\u00a0 It continues with a posture of openness and support.\u00a0 It changes when we challenge others to break down this reality too.\u00a0 Be generous this Christmas: give this gift of understanding and support.\u00a0 And let the church be better because of this gift!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=2571&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rev. Cathy Kaminski is the lead pastor of Trinity Community Church in Cincinnati, OH. She hopes this article will be a gift to you this Christmas. Here is a gift you can give to your sisters this Christmas: understanding.\u00a0 We all have demons of self doubt.\u00a0 At times they can paralyze us, make us give [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-testimoies-and-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gift This Christmas - Commission on Biblical Gender Equality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2016\/12\/27\/gift-this-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gift This Christmas - Commission on Biblical Gender Equality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rev. Cathy Kaminski is the lead pastor of Trinity Community Church in Cincinnati, OH. She hopes this article will be a gift to you this Christmas. Here is a gift you can give to your sisters this Christmas: understanding.\u00a0 We all have demons of self doubt.\u00a0 At times they can paralyze us, make us give [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2016\/12\/27\/gift-this-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commission on Biblical Gender Equality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-27T20:04:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-28T01:06:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2016\/12\/C.-Kaminsky-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jeffo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jeffo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/27\\\/gift-this-christmas\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/27\\\/gift-this-christmas\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jeffo\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e3a410e3ecd495a15ddb19402571710b\"},\"headline\":\"Gift This Christmas\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-27T20:04:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-28T01:06:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/27\\\/gift-this-christmas\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":669,\"commentCount\":3,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/27\\\/gift-this-christmas\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/96\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/C.-Kaminsky-225x300.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Testimonies and Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/27\\\/gift-this-christmas\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/27\\\/gift-this-christmas\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/bge\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/27\\\/gift-this-christmas\\\/\",\"name\":\"Gift This Christmas - 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